Concession Golf Club vies for top LPGA tournament

Published: Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 11:58 p.m.

In a move that could further bolster Southwest Florida's growing prominence as a venue for sports tourism, The Concession Golf Club is vying to host one of the world's major women's golf tournaments in 2017, tourism officials say.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association's Solheim Cup would represent the highest-caliber tournament that the club, east of Lakewood Ranch, has held since its inception in 2006. That's the same year Concession was named “Best New Private Course” by Golf Digest magazine.

The biennial five-day event, held in late August and often drawing more than 100,000 participants and fans, pits top U.S. players against an elite European team. Brought here, it could do much to cement this region's place as a sports tourism epicenter.

Solheim would take place just weeks before the 2017 World Rowing Championships, an event this area is also trying to land.

If Nathan Benderson Park is selected over Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for the rowing event, that could mean another 42,000 athletes and spectators coming to the area for 10 days in September. In all, the rowing championships are projected to pump $25 million into Sarasota and Manatee counties' economies.

Although LPGA officials and the Concession's owners declined to confirm that a Solheim bid is in the works, tourism officials said the club has retained a consultant to help develop a bid package.

Amy Hawk is a tournament director for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am held in Tampa. She also is one of the longest-running female directors on the Champions Tour. In 2011, she was named “Sports Business Woman of the Year” by the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, for her impact on women's sports.

“We know that LPGA officials will come here for a site visit, much like FISA is coming to Nathan Benderson Park for the rowing championships bid,” said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, referring to a visit planned for April by rowing's governing body.

Since its debut in 1990, the tournament — named after the Norewegian-American founder of PING Golf — has been held in the United States at an array of courses in West Virginia, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois.

The event also has roots in Florida: The very first Solheim Cup was won by the U.S. team at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando.

Venues shift between European and U.S. sites.

In 2013, the tournament will be held in the Denver suburb of Parker at the Colorado Golf Club. That 18-hole course was recognized after its debut in 2007 with the same honor that Golf Digest bestowed on Concession.

In 2015, Germany's St. Leon-Rot course will host the Solheim Cup.

Like the Colorado Golf Club, St. Leon-Rot has hosted a number of prominent matches, including the European Tour's Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe.

Though Concession has not held a pro match equal to Solheim, the club has hosted various collegiate and other competitions of note. In 2015, it will be the site of the 2015 NCAA Men and Women's Championships.

“It's a world-class venue more than capable of hosting this kind of event,” said Tony Jacklin, a former PGA pro who designed the Concession course with golfing legend Jack Nicklaus.

“This would be the most exciting thing to happen at the Concession, no doubt,” Jacklin said. “It would go beyond any event that has been held there already.”

Concession — named after a moment in the 1969 Ryder Cup tournament in which Nicklaus conceded a two-foot putt to Jacklin to decide the match — is a “core” golf course with 18 holes that includes a $15 million clubhouse totaling 33,000 square feet.

Community support

As with the World Rowing Championships bid, Solheim event funding would most likely be split between county governments, The Concession and the LPGA, experts said.

“An event of this size would require a substantial amount of support from the community,” said LPGA spokeswoman Kraig Kann.

Both Manatee and Sarasota counties have so far invested $90,000 to help lure the rowing championships.

It is unclear how much the LPGA event would cost to put on and organize.

Kann said the selection process will hinge on Concession itself.

“The quality of the course is paramount, and then comes the accommodations for spectators and athletes,” he said.

The 2009 cup brought more than 120,000 spectators from 50 states and 11 countries to Sugar Grove, Ill.

There, the Solheim Cup had an economic impact of $19.4 million, according to an LPGA report.

Falcione and golf industry professionals contend that this region has adequate accommodations and other attractions and amenities to host the Solheim event.

“It would require some tweaking of the course to be able to move the spectators around, but that is why the planning starts years in advance,” Jacklin said.

Falcione said that landing worldwide events in rowing and golf in the same year would heighten the area's profile and have widespread ramifications for sports tourism in Southwest Florida.

“How exciting would it be to host both rowing and professional golf in the same year?” Falcione said. “It would put our region in the international spotlight.”

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